No-One But You (The Zephyr Endeavor) - Part 2
Chapter 85: Dirthouse (Part 5)
…
We all know that Wade Wilson just faced Victor Von Doom in open combat. That battle was real for the mercenary, and deep down the clash was very real for Doctor Doom as well.
He used Battleworld as a way for everyone to see Wade's demise, but going into the colosseum… he didn't expect to have two opponents.
Ezekiel Stane's participation in that fight is what sealed its outcome, because Doom eventually saw it as a way of punishing his somber student.
He not only fed the mercenary information to give Wade the upper hand, but he also pulled some strings with his tech.
He did that because Ezekiel could tell Wade's days were numbered. The somber Jackal was also smart enough to know that he had to expect the worst and do something about it.
He had to "preserve" something in order to make sure Wade survived the encounter…
Ezekiel had to protect him from the start, even though Wade was the one putting himself in danger.
…
So, when that blinding green light suddenly cut through Wade's body… something sorta snapped in Ezekiel's mind. He watched the encounter unfold as it did, and his soul pretty much slipped out of his body.
His vacant stare wouldn't let up, and multiple notifications popped up toward the right side of his face.
The notifications were telling him that "Sevgili" was completely disabled, as well as his host. They both were obliterated, actually. Gone. Zephyr ran a number of scans to locate some trace of Wade, some trace of his tech, some trace of… something.
There had to be some shred to build from, and Ezekiel kept thinking that for quite some time.
His short breaths wouldn't let up either. It felt like the oxygen around him wasn't doing its job. He couldn't breathe, but the baby Jackal absolutely refused to remove his suit.
Zephyr ran another scan, then another… then another. Ezekiel mentally told his technology to keep searching, and his mind couldn't think of anything else. Nothing else mattered to Ezekiel. He didn't give a shit.
…
He didn't even take in what was happening down below, because there were mixed reactions about what had happened to Wade down in the pit.
Most of the onlookers were confused. They thought it was part of some show, and things started getting loud.
None of that mattered to Ezekiel, because he was busy telling his tech to run another scan at a higher distance. The baby Jackal flew up, actually, and he left the rest of the world down below in his dust.
Understanding what happened to Wade was the only task he could handle, and his eyes were getting so bad he could barely read the screen.
Tears kept getting in the way, and Zephyr explained once again that there was no data to gather. That was impossible, and there had to be something.
The screen in front of Ezekiel's eyes really began to blur after Zephyr ran the numbers on Doom's attack. Ezekiel listened to an explanation of the explosive yield of Victor Von Doom's attack, and his heart dropped again as soon as he heard the calculation.
Nerd alert: Think of energy as a "weapon" and when that weapon is detonated, it's usually expressed either in kilotonnes, megatonnes, or sometimes something called terajoules.
Ezekiel Stane understood those terms very well, and he was unfortunately smart enough to also know that Doom hit Wade with enough destructive power to level a small planet.
So… the baby Jackal was just short of probably having a mild heart attack, maybe a mini stroke… and he absentmindedly kept telling his technology to keep searching. Wade's body was regenerative, remember, and… studies show that he's recklessly blown himself up before.
They both played games, challenged, and toyed around with Victor Von Doom, like fools.
That fact kinda hit Ezekiel in the gut as Zephyr told him yet ANOTHER scan came back inconclusive, and it's safe to say some level of shock began to settle in beneath that suit.
You can call it an actual panic attack if you want, cuz that's exactly what happened. Ezekiel was NOT handling the situation very well at all. Zephyr was mentally told to keep scanning, because the baby Jackal couldn't vocalize for shit.
You do nothing but scan, scan higher, scan lower, scan more towards the pit and then up higher where the blast would naturally radiate outward.
JUST SCAN. Scan after scan was doing something to Ezekiel's soul for sure, and it was affecting him so much that he couldn't hear anything Stephen Strange was actually saying.
Doctor Strange flew up in his direction, as well as his baby brother Victor. Something was definitely happening down below, but Ezekiel was completely oblivious to the aftermath of Doom.
It felt like his ears were plugged, actually, and he mentally told Zephyr to run the numbers of the air pressure from the blast wave, then he told his technology to perform yet another scan…
Chapter: END
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